Chapter 118
While playing games in the Archive, there were quite a few NPCs who wished for death.
For most, it was a wish for a peaceful rest, and I could understand them.
But Orca was different.
What he wanted was anything but peaceful.
Orca told me that he hated himself for no longer being able to swim to the farthest reaches of the ocean.
When I first saw the True Ending of The Cell-X.
I couldn’t believe that this was a happy ending.
No matter how many times I tried to hold onto him, Orca always left with a light heart.
As if he had finally found true freedom, as if this were his happy ending, he was joyful and happy.
I searched every nook and cranny to see if there was another ending, but none existed.
Since the guards could reattach arms severed by Neo, I tried to see if it would work for Orca as well.
But it couldn’t restore his permanently damaged legs.
I could neither give Orca back his legs nor save his life.
Eventually, I came to hate The Cell-X.
For a while after the ending, I was somewhat depressed, and I even visited the creator’s stream to voice my complaints.
Ah... a forgotten memory has resurfaced.
"Roasted Chestnut, did you enjoy it this time too?"
[It was fun... but it felt a bit strange]
I don’t think it’s the True Ending
"Roasted Chestnut, you cleared all the endings again this time!"
[But it wasn’t a happy ending]
"Why do you think so?"
[Orca]
[Died]
[Actually it wasn’t fun it was too painful]
"Roasted Chestnut.."
[Why is this the True Ending?]
"Because the happiness each person desires can be different."
[I don’t understand]
"You cannot make everyone happy in the way that you want them to be."
[But]
[I still don’t think so]
[Could you please add a happy ending?]
[Please]
"It is impossible for me. But if it were you, Roasted Chestnut."
What?
"Nothing. Now, Roasted Chestnut. Don’t you want to play another game? This game will be joyful and fun. Truly."
It couldn’t be a coincidence that this conversation, which had been buried deep in my memories, came back to me now.
The creator must have tampered with my memories.
Was it because I had expressed my dislike for the game for the first time?
It was certainly a memory that didn’t fit into the game worlds he created for me.
Chewing over the resurfaced memory, I swallowed a bitter smile.
As the creator said, I probably cannot make everyone happy in the way I want.
Furthermore, doing so would likely not be the right thing to do.
Arbitrarily judging someone else’s happiness was an act of utterly arrogant control
But for me, it was simply unbearable.
I liked happy endings.
In this place, at the very least, I didn’t want to fail, nor did I want to run away.
I wanted to save them.
Even if the other person didn’t want it.
"Mr. Roasted Chestnut..?"
I snapped back to reality.
Orca was looking at me with a very strange expression.
I wondered if zoning out for a moment was really that odd, but since it was an important moment, I spoke with a sense of reflection.
"I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else for a moment..."
As I gave an awkward smile, Orca shifted his gaze.
After confirming that the guard was still far away, he spoke cautiously.
"By any chance..."
"Yes?"
"No. I must have seen something that wasn’t there. Still.. be careful, Mr. Roasted Chestnut."
I nodded for now, not even knowing what Orca’s warning meant.
Then, I finished examining Orca.
Since Creatures possess their own regenerative abilities, most wounds healed well unless they were extreme injuries.
The scratches Orca received earlier would likely vanish completely by tonight.
I examined Orca’s legs with particular care.
After checking for things like muscle spasms, I recorded them as normal on the chart.
Having finished Orca’s treatment, I approached the prison door.
"Officer."
I made a suggestion to the guard who approached indifferently to open the door.
"How about we try collecting Neo starting from Number 6?"
The guards loathed Creatures.
Orca was relatively close to human form, so the discomfort was slightly less.
"Well, I don’t care."
Hearing my suggestion, the guard replied as if it didn’t matter and took out the Neo extractor.
Feeling that he was being unusually cooperative, I checked his stats.
[Guard 6:]
- Suspicion: 39
- Favorability: 56
’When did his favorability build up this much?’
While puzzled, I watched the guard extract Neo.
He banged on the iron bars and shouted.
"Number 6!"
Orca limped over and silently held out his forearm.
The guard took out a semi-cylindrical machine.
The machine, about 15cm long, had a glass tube attached to it.
As the extraction machine was fitted to his forearm, Orca’s body stiffened.
It was because the blade protruding from the bottom sliced through the flesh.
A whirring mechanical sound echoed, and a neon green liquid began to fill the glass tube rapidly.
It was extracting the Creature’s bio-energy through the blood vessels.
The extraction itself ended in a few minutes.
But the problem came after the extraction.
The guard pulled out the machine.
A large wound remained on Orca’s forearm.
Along with the bleeding, beneath the split skin, the thick and elastic white tissue layer characteristic of an orca beastman was visible.
It was the thick blubber used to maintain body temperature and absorb shock in cold seas.
If it had been an ordinary human, the blade would have been plunged deep enough to expose muscle and bone.
Orca gripped his wounded forearm.
Usually, wounds were left alone until they healed naturally.
The prison’s medical officer was merely in a position whose purpose was to keep the Creatures alive just enough so they wouldn’t die.
Suppressing the urge to treat him immediately, I gave Orca a signal with my eyes.
The orca’s black pupils glistened with a glossy sheen.
I approached the guard.
"Officer."
As he was wiping blood off the extraction machine, he looked at me.
And I rammed straight into the guard.
Clang!
The moment the guard’s body hit the iron bars, two sturdy arms reached out and yanked him in instantly.
"Gah...!"
In the moment the subdued guard struggled.
I quickly detached the glass tube and opened the cap, and Orca bit into the guard’s neck with sharp teeth.
Before the guard could shake Orca off, I shoved the glass tube directly into the wound.
The guard’s mouth fell open at the sudden influx of Neo.
That was the end.
The guards were addicted to Neo to maintain their enhanced bodies.
There was no way he could reject the Neo pouring into his own body.
The guard, who had looked as if he would push Orca away at any second, immediately became docile.
As the freshly collected raw Neo spread through his blood vessels, veins began to bulge across the guard’s skin.
They weren’t blue veins, but neon green ones.
He made gurgling sounds, unable to form words, and leaked from the guard’s open mouth.
He had become a husk.
I immediately sent a message to Kwak Han-mook.
[Captain Kwak. The test has ended successfully. Please handle the CCTV.]
I had already asked him to take care of the CCTV in Sector X.
If it was Kwak Han-mook, he would handle it well on his own.
The husked guard twisted his body, gurgling.
Seeing that, I was suddenly reminded of the zombies from Deadzone.
They were entirely different beings, but for a moment, I thought they felt similar.
Then, Orca spoke to me.
"Mr. Roasted Chestnut. Excuse me for a moment."
"Ah, yes."
I quickly turned around.
Behind my back, there was a snap, the sound of teeth clashing.
Then came the sound of flesh being torn.
The sound of something snapping, followed by tearing and munching sounds.
"That will do."
With a relieved face, Orca wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
He was a mess, covered in the red blood from his forearm and the neon green liquid around his mouth.
However, Orca’s eyes were glossier than ever.
They were the eyes of an orca showing a belligerent streak.
Lying before the iron bars was a husk with exactly its heart ripped out.
The Creatures wanted to reclaim the Neo from the guards.
Thus, I planned to turn the guards into husks to make them easy to subdue, and then let each Creature reclaim the Neo in their preferred manner.
Orca chose the method of consuming only the heart. the core part where Neo is condensed.
After eating the Neo, Orca seemed to have regained much of his energy.
I asked Orca worriedly.
"Mr. Orca, Did it taste alright?"
Though it was unavoidable, Orca probably hadn’t wanted to eat something like a husk.
At my question, worrying if it had been disgusting, Orca laughed out loud.
"Haha, Mr. Roasted Chestnut. I thought so even in my dreams, but you are truly peculiar. The real-life you is even more so."
"What’s so peculiar?"
i asked out of curiosity, but Orca didn’t answer and only smiled mischievously.
I eventually gave up and grabbed the arm of the dead husk.
Before going back on rounds, I asked Orca.
"Mr. Orca. By any chance, do you know about a pattern where tentacles, like octopus legs, are entwined around a pupil?"
"Are you speaking of the humans’ god?"
At the subtle phrasing, I couldn’t help but ask again.
"Is the god of the Creatures different?"
"It is. But it seems our god has been gone for a long time."
"Ah..."
"Think about it, Mr. Roasted Chestnut. If a god truly existed, would they have left us in such agony?"
Orca spoke to me as if joking and pointed to the room next door.
"Hurry and go to Number 5! It seems they’ve already caught the scent."
The forearm that had been deeply cut by the extractor had already healed cleanly.
He had recovered the wound while consuming the husk’s heart.
I was glad I didn’t have to treat him separately.
After saying goodbye to Orca, I dragged the dead husk toward Room 5 opposite.
I took the card from the husk’s clothes, opened the cell door, and called for Patient 5.
"Patient 5. It’s time for your examination. I have a gift, too."
In the empty solitary cell, a particularly thick and black shadow writhed and moved.
I smiled slightly.
"It’s okay to eat first and then have the examination."
And then, I stepped into the cell, dragging the husk along.
The black shadow surged toward me like a wave.
After it swept past me once like a rising tide.
Not a single piece of clothing remained on the husk.
Having enjoyed a high-quality meal for the first time in a long while, the black shadow cast an even deeper darkness.
Hearing the sound notifying me of Favorability 100, I spoke.
"The examination will now begin."
***
Having successfully finished the rounds in Sector X, I hurried toward the prayer room.
It was to meet Won Tae-beom, who would be performing the role of a correctional chaplain.
Yesterday, I had been snatched away by Je Hyeon-oh without being able to give him any explanation.
Today, I intended to share the current situation and ask if he had seen Je Hyeon-oh.
After meeting Won Tae-beom, I planned to visit Kwak Han-mook, and if no one knew Je Hyeon-oh’s whereabouts, I intended to go look for him myself.
Since CEO Cha, the prison warden, had given me the authority to move freely around the prison, I had sufficient conditions to travel alone.
As I headed to the prayer room, Dominic, on my shoulder, called out to me.
"Roasted Chestnut."
"Yes, Mr. Dominic."
"There is something I am curious about. To you, what is the difference between the Creatures and the guards?"
I immediately realized what Dominic was asking.
He wanted to know the difference between killing the guards without hesitation, and yet I wanted to save the Creatures.
To Dominic, they were all merely insignificant.
It was not a difficult question to answer.
I replied without hesitation.
"Because I like the Creatures."
"I see. Understood."
Letting out a low laugh, Dominic uttered an ambiguous phrase.
"If that is the standard of a young god."
I wanted to ask more about those meaningful words, but I couldn’t.
It was because of the noise that erupted the moment I arrived at the prayer room.
Crash!
The sound of something falling came from inside.
Startled, I flung open the door to the prayer room.
And I encountered an unbelievable sight.
Kwak Han-mook was throwing a punch at Won Tae-beom.